Tilak Varma confident of a Mumbai Indians comeback: ‘We always catch up in the middle and end of IPL’

Despite sitting in the bottom half of the points table midway through the season, Tilak Varma is confident that Mumbai Indians will mount a comeback in the latter half, starting with their game against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday.

“Except for one year, Mumbai has always been in this scenario (start slow). At the start, we don’t start that great, but Mumbai always catches up in the middle and end of the tournament. So, we always believe in our strategy, plans, practices, and everything else. So, hopefully, we will also do that this year, and we are trying to do that,” Tilak said on the eve of the game in Jaipur.

“We are just focusing on one game at a time and are not looking much forward to the championship. We are just going one game at a time. As I said, we are just planning a strategy, and everything is going well. We will be winning in the coming games,” he added.

After seven games of the season, MI have three wins and are sixth in the points table. Having lost to Chennai Super Kings in their previous home game, the Hardik Pandya-led side had emerged victorious against Punjab last week.

Rajasthan on the other hand sit at the top of the points table with six wins from seven games. Playing at home, RR have won three of their four games.

A Boult for the blue

Among the top challenges Tilak pieced out that await the five-time winners is Rajasthan’s new ball pacer, Trent Boult. The Kiwi has seven wickets from as many games and has been a real handful for the opposition batters.

Rajasthan Royals bowler Trent Boult celebrates the wicket of Mumbai Indians batter Rohit Sharma during the Indian Premier League 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (PTI)

Boult had also been the pick of the bowlers the last time these two teams squared off as he snapped three wickets including that of Rohit Sharma in the very first over.

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“Trent Boult is always very good at what he does, and thus, in every aspect of the game, like T20 or one day, he is a legendary bowler. But our batters are also in good rhythm. The wicket was tricky in the last match against RR, so I’ll credit Trent Boult; he bowled well,” Tilak said.

“So, we will play cautiously at the start. We will take the time to see how the wicket goes. If the wicket gets going well, our batting lineup is always aggressive, and that power hitting as well. So, we’ll show that same intent. If the wicket is doing something, we’ll take some time initially, then plan according to the situation,” he added.

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